Fabric treating system



May 12, 1953 s. COHN ET AL 2,637,991

FABRIC TREATING SYSTEM Filed Oct. 1, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I as 7 M"INVENTOR3 ATTORNEY May 12, 1953 s. COHN ET AL FABRIC TREATING SYSTEM 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 1, 1946 v INVENTORJ' I BY May 12, 1953 s. COHNET AL FABRIC TREATING SYSTEM 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct.

I... 52,54??? Ja May 12, 1953 s. COHN ET AL FABRIC TREATING SYSTEM 5Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 1, 1946 May 12, 1953 Filed Oct. 1, 1946 S.COHN ET AL 2,637,991 FABRIC TREATING SYSTEM 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 MINVENTORSW ma 4 ATTORNEY Patented May 12, 1953 FABRIC TREATING SYSTEM Samuel(John, New York, and Jules G. Walter, Ridgewood, N. Y., assignors toSamcoe Holding Corporation, Woodside, N. Y., a. corporation of New YorkApplication October 1, 1946, Serial N 0. 700,536

14 Claims.

This invention relates to method and apparatus for treating, drying andconditioning textile fabrics.

The object of the invention is to provide a system for continuouslyrunning strips of fabric through a series of operations including afinal controlled drying and delivery of the fabric partly conditionedand smooth and regular in texture.

Further objects of the invention, particularly in the apparatus involvedand the simultaneous feeding of a plurality of parallel strips of fabricwill appear from the following specification taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, inwhich Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view ofthe entrance end of the system;

Fig. 2 is a side view corresponding to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a showing on enlarged scale of a portion of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a partial sectional view looking toward the discharge end ofthe dryer;

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing the air circulation for the dryer;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation showing the air circulation and the drivingmeans for the dryer drums;

Fig. 7 is a side view on enlarged scale of the portion of the controlfor the drive of the dryer drums;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the same;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. '7;

Fig. 10 is a partial elevational view of a dry" ing drum with airdistributing means at its periphery;

Fig. 11 is a similar side View of the air distributing means for thedrum shown in Fig. 1.0;

Fig. 12 is a sectional view of a T-pulley illustrating a modifiedconstruction; and

Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 12 showing a further modified form ofpulley construction.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the baskets H], II contain the fabricusually wet from a previous washing. The cloths A and B are taken fromthe. baskets, passed up through stationary poteyes l2 and I3 and thenceover internal propeller mechanisms M and 15 of the type shown in C'ohnPatent No. 2,130,118 supported and driven by side rolls HS, IT. Thecloth then passes around guide rolls I8, is and through squeeze rolls28,

between the cylinders.

converged to flat distended form and under tension, longitudinally andtransversely, the excess water being squeezed out with the fabric underthis tension. Similarly in the squeeze rolls 23, 24 the fabric is inflat form under longitudinal tension and these rolls may be set-to haveany desired liquid content in the fabric strips either more or less thanthe content at delivery from squeeze rolls 2|], 2|. The cloth now inwrinklefree flat condition passes under speed control dancer roll 25(Figs. 1 and 2) and thence to the first inlet roll 26 of the dryer D(Fig. 6)

The fabric in entering the dryer D (Fig. 6) passes over roll 26 at aspeed automatically controlled as hereinafter explained. The cloth thenpasses downwardly around speed control dancer .roll 21 in the dryer andthence upwardly over the cloth supporting and driving drum member 28which has its periphery composed of a suitably air pervious material sothat it is possible,

although supporting the cloth, for the air to penetrate through thecloth on this member. Any desired number of these drying drums may beused. The cloth after leaving the first member 28 passes downwardly overdancer 3!] and thence to the second supporting and driving member 3|.The cloth thence travels in a manner similar to that just describedthrough the balance of the drying zones under a succession of dancerroll controls and over drum members 32, 33, 34 and 35 until it arrivesat a point where it has passed the last driving member 35. From thenceit is preferred to lead the cloth over dancer 36 after which it passesunder and over idlers 31 to a driven draw roll 38 from whence it may beeither folded or lead to any sub-sequent operation.

An important advantage of this system is the feeding of either ;one ormore strings or strips of fabric A, B, this being attained by thecontrol of the supply of the strips in combination with the control ofthe feed as hereinafter explained. The dryer cylinders feed both stripsAand B at substantially the same rate regulated from cylinder tocylinder by a dancer roll control Where the fabric strips are ofdifferent characteristics andin particular different rates of shrinkage,a compensating radjustment of the relative rates of feed into the dryerhas been found to be automatically distributed through the successivedrying steps to permit both strips to be carried Zxthrough togetherwithout excessive tensioningror slacking of. either.

. This relative adjustment of the ,rates of feed 3 is attained byvariation of the amount of material fed by the propellers l4, l (Figs. 1and 2). Preferably the propeller drive rollers I6, I! are driven at thesame rate of speed, the widths of the propellers within the tubularmaterial being relatively varied to feed more of the materialshowinggthe greater shrinkage. These propellers being for instance asshown in Cohn et al. Patent No. 2,228,001 may be adjustable in widthduring the running of the fabric and the wider the adjustment the moreof the fabric of greater shrinkage will be drawn and fed to the treatingmechanism and the dryer. Then in" the dryer the relatively greateramount of shrinkage encountered will be offset and supplied from' theincreased width or amount of material without overstretching the fabricor subjecting it to undue tension in any direction. It will feed alongwith the strip of less shrinkage under the same controls.

In the propeller structure the side frames 50 (Fig. 1) rotatably supportthe adjusting screw rods 52 and the transverse drive shaft 5| (Fig. landFig. 2) geared to the drive rolls [5; ll. Supporting brackets 53 slidefreely on shaft 5| and are threaded to rods 52 which are" turned byhand-wheels 54 to adjust the width of each propeller separately.

In this way for identical peripheral speeds of rollers I6, I! therelative feeds of the two strips A, B may be set and readjusted fromtime to time. For example, the operator may observe a tendency of one ofthe strips in the dryer to tighten or slack and the compensatingadjustment to correspondingly increase or decrease the width ofthe'propeller for that strip may be made. During the running of themachine slight microadjustment of the relative speeds of rollers i6, [1may be made.

The typical chemical treatment before drying carries the strips throughthe solution 59 in pan 55 passing them from the squeeze rolls 20, 2|under the solution rolls 56, 5'? and then between squeeze rolls 23, 24.The solution 59 is maintained at a low level L (Fig. 3) below the pointat which the fabric A, 13 comes into contact with the roll 56 so thatthe cloth and the roll surface are pressed together before the fabric iscarried down into the solution on the surface of the roll. Any air orgas trapped between the roll surface and fabric is thus released throughthe fabric openings before they are closed by the solution and bubblingor ballooming of the wetted fabric is obviated and the feed is keptuniform with smooth even passing of the cloth through the treatment 22and the squeeze rolls 23, 24.

Between these rolls 23, 24 and the dryer feed roll 26, the controldancer 25 rests on both fabric strips A, B and through speed controlmechanism, designated generally at 62 (Fig. 2) varies the speed of theroll 26 (Figs. 5 and 6) to maintain a desired rate of feed of roll 26with respect to the feed from the squeeze rolls.

23, 24 is set at desired rate in relation to the separate drive for thedryer and the feed roll 26 which is preferably driven from thepreliminary drive through belting and control 60 operated by dancer 25to regulate the rate of rotation of roll 26.

' The drive of the inlet roll 26 is taken. from the samemain driveoutput shaft 6! which drives the balance of the processing in advanceofthis Jin'let roll. The first step of this. nle r 11 d iv The preliminarydrive from the baskets through squeeze rolls has a large sprocket 62mounted on shaft El and driving by belt Sla to sprocket 63 on jack shaft84. A pulley 65 is attached to sprocket 63 and this assembly 65 and 63will revolve freely on fixed stud 64.

A V-belt 66 from pulley E55 drives to one of the grooves in T-pulley 67on floating stud shaft 15'. The other groove in T-pull'ey G1accommodates a second V-belt 68 which drives to belt pulley 69, which,in turn, is fastened to another sprocket IG, the pulley 69 and sprocketit having suitable connection so that the assembly 69 and '50 mayrevolve freely around fixed stud A chain 12 drives from sprocket "Hi tosprocket 73 located on the same shaft which aocommodates the inlet roll26.

In operation, when the cloth A, B has a tendency to slacken, the dancerroll 25 follows the cloth down and the arm M carrying T-pulley 67 is anintegral part of the dancer roll arm 14 and located so that it acts as alever and swings in an are determined by its distance from the center ofthe T-pulley to the center of the fixed stud M changes the centerdistance between pulley shafts !5, H and 64 and increases the speed ofsprocket 18' as roll 25 drops and arm M tips counterclockwise and thepitch diameter of driving belt 66 on pulley 5! shrinks and the pitchdiameter of driven belt 68 on said pulley increases causing inlet roll26 to speed up in accordance with the demand of the lowering of dancerroll 25. Conversely, the lifting of the dancing roll reverses thisaction and slows down inlet roll 26, as set forth hereafter indescribing similar mechanism in the dr er drive.

If, when the drive is stopped, the overrun or coasting of the processoris greater than the overrun or coasting of the dryer, the inlet roll 26will simply run this amount of cloth into the dryer so that it hangs ina loop. Immediately after the drive is again started up, the firstdancer 2! inside the dryer will follow this loop down and call for ahigher speed of the first dryer reel to correct this condition, theslack being then redistributed to the succeeding reels by dancers 35.

The pre-treatment mechanism (Fig. 2) is driven from the main shaft C-lthrough pulleys li,

belt H to the propeller mechanism, chain l8 to the squeeze rolls 2!), 21and chain '59 to the squeeze rolls 23, 24. Belt ll drives pulley 86 onshaft 5i connected through gearings 2i, one for each of the shafts ofthe drive rolls 15, ll.

The dancer roll control 25, [it varies the speed of the roll 26 tocompensate for variations in the material as it passes through thepreliminary treatment in advance of the dryer, The dancer roll 25 canonly drop as far as permitted by the tension of the strip A or B whichfeeds the slower and is therefore the more taut. Therefore, the entranceroll 26 will only feed at a rate corresponding to the demand of thisslower strip and the excess of feed of the faster strip appears as slackat the dancer roll 25 which slack when it develops and persists servesas a guide to the operator to adjust the corresponding propeller i4, 15to feed at a slower rate. Or conversely the propeller of the slowerstrip may be adjusted to feed the material at a faster rate.

The cloth strips are thus fed to the dryer on roll 26 at separatelycontrolled'rates and in order that the cloth in the dryer may beperfectly free during its travel to shrink or extend and revert to itsnatural dimensions as determined by its condition feed controls of thedrums are applied through the apparatus shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9.

is shown in Fig. 9.

The belt mechanism drives at controlled variable speeds the clothsupporting and driving members 28, 3E, 32, 33, 34 and 35. Figs. 6, 7 and8 show an endless fiat belt ill driven from drive 92 (Fig.

6) at any suitable speed in order to obtain the general drying speed ofthe entire range. The

endless belt 9i passes over pulleys 93 in its travel 93 revolves aroundstationary shaft 98. The V- belt lid which passes around combinationpulley 93 and is driven therefrom, drives to one of the grooves in thevariable pitch pulley Hill, a cross section of which taken on a line 8-9in Fig. 7 Pulley Illll revolves freely about stud It'll. l-belt I02passes around the second groove in pulley Iiil] and drives to V-belt.pulley ills which is fastened to one end of stub shaft ill i. Stubshaft IM which is mounted in suitable bearing I65 carries at the endopposite pulley llltl pinion gear I86 meshing with master gear Id'iwhich is in turn fastened to driving and supporting shaft Illll of thecorresponding dryer drum shown in Figs. and 6. The variable pitch pulleyIiili in Fig. '7 is actuated by action of the cloth A or B on the roller39. This roller is an idler and pivoted in suitable bearings andrevolves around shaft W9 held in arms Il said arms being fastened tosuitable stub shafts III on the outside of the dryer and I I I on theinside of the dryer shown in Fig. E). Box cam H2 is fastened to theoutside end of stub shaft I I I with additional weight clamp Il3 mountedadjacent thereto carrying a rod H4 suitably locked into clamp l I3. Rodl M carries the adjustable weight H5 (Fig; 7) which is slidably mountedon rod lid. The box cam H2 is so locked on shaft III that its workingportion engages ball bearing roller l Ill which is suitably mounted by alocking stud ill in arm i It pivoting freely on fixed stud H9 and isproperly positioned thereon by collar IEEl. Suitable bearings l2I areconveniently located in which stub shaft III with cam IIZ (shown in Fig.8) is permitted to revolve through the arc of the motion transmitted tothem by the action of the cloth on dancer roll 35].

Referring now to Fig. 9, the action of the pulley 'Illd is as follows:

.When any change in centers between shafts 98 and illi and IM takesplace, this change results in the belts adapting themselves to new pitchdiameters in the grooves of pulley lllll. If, for instance, shaft llllis moved in its arcuate motion toward shaft 9%, then this distance isdecreased and the belt 99 shown in Fig. 7 will be forced to adapt itselfto a larger pitch diameter in its groove because the center distancebetween shaft ml and shaft Nit has been increased which results in beltW2 being forced'down into its groove on pulley lllli. As the action ofbelt I02 being forced down into the pulley by an increase in centerdistance between shafts It! and IM becomes felt, it forces center diskI23 shown in Fig, 9 against belt lid and since the pulley is rotatingduring this action, belt 99 is crowded or I forced to a larger pitchdiameter, and since the one center distance between shaft t3 and shaft99 and I02 although having changed their relative positions in thepulley I00 still remain taut. The action of disk I23 just described ispossible because this disk is slidably mounted on tube I25. End disk I26is an integral part of tube I25 and therefore has no lateral motion withrelation to said tube. End disk I2! is located in proper position ontube I25 after which set screw I28 locks this disk to tube I25. Theentire pulley I00 revolves freely around shaft IIlI on bushing I29 andis held in place by collar I 32.

In the specific form of T-pulley shown in Fig. 9, the disk I2l isattached to the sleeve I25 by set screws, the disk I26 at the oppositeend being a press fit on the same or sleeve I25. In order to compensatefor belt stretch and belt wear, disk I 21 is adjusted laterally on thesleeve I25 until a proper running condition is found and wearcompensated for. In Fig. 12 a modified construction is shown embodying aself-adjusting and compensating combination which will automaticallyperform the manual shift and thus keep the belts in proper runningcondition at all times.

The sleeve I25a is lon enough to accommodate the spring i220 and thespring-holding disk or collar i251) held by lock ring I250. The spooldisk member l23a slides longitudinally on the sleeve i25a and with theend disk I2ta maintains the V-pulley I02a under yielding pressure.Similarly, at the opposite end the belt 9% is yieldingly held betweenthe cooperating disks, the lock ring IZdd holding the sleeves in placelongitudinally of the shaft I6 I a,

The key I2lb is welded to the sleeve I 25a which makes the disk I2'la anintegral part of this sleeve l25a as far as rotation is concerned. Thedisk I2'la, however, has free axial slip on the sleeve I25a and is heldagainst the belt 99a at all times by the spring I270. Spring tension maybe in creased or decreased by moving the collar I251) in the directiondesired.

This construction is especially advantageous in that it protects thebelts or any part of the drive connected to the belts from strain due tomanual forcing of the dancer arm through its range, for instance, whenit becomes necessary to clear a jam in the dryer. The disk l2? may nowmove laterally when clearing a jam although the pulley is at rest.

In the modification shown in Fig. 13, the shaft [6| carries the sleeveI52 rotatably mounted thereon by bearings I63. At one end of the shaftI62 is fixed the disk. I64 of the driven pulley, the other disk I65 ofwhich is carried on the spool I56 rotatably and slidably mounted. on thesleeve I62. At the other end of the spool I66 is the disk I6! of thedriving pulley, the other disk Hit of which is mountedon the bushing I66rotatably and slidably mounted on the sleeve l62. A ring Ill) is carriedby the bushing Hill of disk Hi8 and is recessed to provide housing I'IIfor graphite bearing plugs l'I2 engaged by the cam surface Il'3 of thecam barrel I'M fixed to the end of the sleeve I62 and recessed toprovide a hOLlSlIlg for the spring ll? bearing against the end of thebearing of the bushing I653 of the pulley disk I68 so as to resilientlypress the pulley disks together. The cam surfaces Il3 of the cam barrelare inclined as shown providing partial helices engaging the bearingplugs I12 and pressing the pulley disk I68 toward the left, and-when thedisk 53 is turned in either direction from the lowest points of the camsurfaces I73 with respect to the sleeve I62 and cam I'M.

This gives an automatic control of the pitch diameters of the belts onthe pulleys regulated by the amount of torque being transmitted. As thetorque on pulley disk Hi8 increases, the disk is crowded toward disk I61by the cam surfaces I13 so as to tend to increase the pitch diameter ofthe pulley, and this crowding is passed on through the spool I 66 anddisk I 65 to the other driven belt also tendin to increase its pitchdiameter. The greater the torque, therefore, tending to draw the beltsdown into the grooves of the pulleys, the greater will be the resistanceoffered by the pulleys, and in this way any tendency to reduce the pitchdiameters will be resisted and the belts will be maintained in theirproper running relation irrespective of changes in the torque. While thestructure and operation has been described with the pulley I61, I68 asthe driving pulley and the pulley I64, I65 as a driven pulley, the sameauto matic stabilizing effect will take place where the drive isreversed and whether the pulley is rotated in either direction. Increasein torque will tend to correspondingly press the pulley disks towardeach other to maintain the proper pitch diameter as set forth, forinstance, by the position of the shaft IGI relative to the shafts of theother pulleys encircled. by the belts.

I In this way each different setting of the relative pitch diameters ofthe driving and driven pulleys is maintained closely set againstvariations due to changes in the driving and driven torques. The springI75 is light and exerts just sufficient pressure to retain the parts inplace with the pulley disks against the belt surfaces. The movements ofthe parts are promptly re sponsive to any shift in the relative tensionsof the driving and driven belts, so that as this T- pulley is moved, forinstance, by the dancer roll 30, the relative pitch diameters of thepulleys will be immediately and closely adjusted to give the desiredspeed control. At the same time the automatic torque compensation willmaintain these pitch diameters against variation due to changes in thebelt loads,

In operation, when any slight impulse on the cloth is felt by roller 30,this impulse is transmitted through the arms I It to the shaft I I I andthence through the cam mechanism and roller giving a resultant change inthe center distances between shafts 98, IOI and I04. This results in animmediate speed change of the corresponding supporting and driving drumwhich will follow exactly and instantaneously that called for by dancer30. The entire dancer mechanism is carefully counterbalanced bycounterweights I353 fastened to arms l3l located on shafts II I, allshown in Fig. 6. The purpose of this counterweight is to make forsupersensitivlty in the apparatus. The purpose of auxiliary weight H5 isto simply add that minute amount of weight which is necessary for thedancer to operate. This may be a varying factor and may be changed asdifferent types of fabrics are run. The sensitivity of the apparatus hasbeen obtained by using the pull of one belt over pulley It'll to exactlyoffset the pull of the other belt. In effect, the load between shafts 98and shafts IUI is exactly the same as the load between shaft IIJI andshaft IE4 and since pulley I00 is located midway between, the amount ofpower necessary to move this pulley would be zero if it were not for theinfinitesimal amount of friction of lever I It on. stud I I9. Thisamount of force is obtained by additional weight II5. In order tomaintain the highly sensitive control, it is preferred to locate dancerrolls 3!) at those points where the fabric naturally begins 8 to sagbecause it is being delivered from the previous driving member andtherefore the dancer roll 30 does not force the fabric to act or react,but instead the dancer follows the cloth.

If the sag or slack is taken up by the greater shrinkage of one or theother of the strips A, B, the tendency is for the response of the feedto lower the rate of feed of the following drum, with the slowing downaction being normally communicated to succeeding drums. The strip ofless shrinkage, therefore, tends to accumulate slack exercising nocontrol over the corresponding dancer roll. This condition usually willbe local within the dryer and will often be automatically taken care ofby slight stretching of the higher shrinkage strip and a subsequentincrease of shrinkage in the other strip. Where there is a persistentand substantial shrinkage and the consequent development of excessiveslack in one of the strips, the corresponding spreaders I4. I5 may beadjusted to further increase the feed of the high shrinkage strip ordecrease the feed of the low shrinkage strip to permit the cloth itselfin the dryer to readjust itself to the difference in shrinkage rates.

The dryer feed and the pre-treatment mechanism are driven by separatemotors with a connected speed control so that their rates are relativelyadjustable and also variable together. The pie-treatment drive motor 83(Fig. 2) drives the processor through belt 84 and variable pitch pulley89. For a given motor speed the rate of rotation of shaft BI is variedby shifting the motor by hand-wheel 31 and so regulating the tension onbelt 84 and the pitch diameter of this belt on pulley 89 of shaft BI.Hand-wheel 81 is also geared to shaft 86 through gearing 85 and clutchpin 88 so that the shaft 86 turns with hand-wheel 81 when the clutch pin88 is in place (Fig. 2). Shaft 86 in turn is connected by chain 90 (Fig.6) to gearing in box I42 acting to raise or lower bracket I43 carryingthe variable pitch pulley I44 driven through belt 92 by pulley I45 onshaft I46 driven by the dryer motor (not shown). Pulley I44 drives shaftI4! and pulley I48 which through belt I49 drives pulley I55, shaft I55and pulley 94 carrying belt 9|. In this way the pitch diameters ofpulleys 89 and I44 are simultaneously and correspondingly varied by handwheel 8! to similarly raise or lower the speed of both the dryer andprocessor. Superposed upon this is an independent relative adjustment ofthe rare-treatment speed relative to the dryer speed by removing the pin88 from the mechanism 85, and independently relatively shifting themotor 83 to relatively increase or decrease the speed of the pretreatingmechanism.

These controls between the pre-treatment and the driver and the controlof the material through adjustment of the propeller mechanisms I4, I5accommodate the mechanisms to the handling of widely variable types offabrics and enable the operator to quickly adjust the machine tovariations occurring during the running of the strips and withoutinterruption of the operation.

The cloth thus supported and evenly fed is subjected to drying air bycirculation and recirculation carrying the currents inward in parallelthic'louigh the drum peripheries and out their on s As the cloth ispassed by the supporting and driving drum members, the air from fans 42,43 passes through chamber 44 above and below the drums as indicated byarrows 45 (Fig. 6) and.

. 9 on through the various nozzles 46 suitably located around thesedriving and supporting drum members so that the air is directed throughnozzles 46 and is forced against and through the cloth A drums asindicated in Fig. by arrows 49. v

" *In a drying method of a recirculatory type, a "certain portion of theused air is exhausted, and

to accomplish this we prefer to lead a certain 'portion of the air usedin the first drying zone as indicated in Fig. 5 by arrows 45 and outthrough exhaust duct X. A suitable damper d is inserted in" exhaust ductX so that either all or any portion of the air used in the first dryingzone may be exhausted. That portion of the air which may not beexhausted may be returned to the recirculation chamber 40 and againused. In order to obtain the proper amount of fresh air to compensatefor that air exhausted and to bring the mixture of air to a properdrying mixture, it is preferred to lead fresh air as indicated by arrows4| through duct E. The mixture of air as indicated by arrowse thenpasses through the heaters H where it is increased to a properlycontrolled temperature and then passes through blowers 42, 43. Blowers42, 43 may be any suitable type of blower or fan and driven by anysuitable mechanism. The air after leaving fans 42, '43 again passesthrough the drums to chambers 4c and ducts X as indicated by arrows 45and the same cycle above described is continually duplicated. The airpresesure created by the -fans 42, 43 makes itself evident even to thepoint of forcing the air out through duct X and therefore this pressureis relied upon to force used air out of the drying chamber, converselythe same fan creates partial vacuum in supply chamber 3i] and the vacuumpresent in chamber 40 coupled with the pressure obtained in chambers 44creates a cycle which-permits the air to travel at high speeds in acontinuous circle exhausting a certain small percentage, replacing thispercentage with fresh air in chamber 40 which therefore acts as a plenumchamber in returning the mixture *through the heaters H following thedirection of the arrows e and thence again through the fans it, 43 whichcompletes the cycle.

We prefer to position the inlet duct E in that location where thesuction of the fan is high before the air enters the heater so that thesame suction of the drying fans is suff ciently high to draw the freshair through the inlet E without making it neces- -sary to employ the useof additional fans.

'is'shown in Figs. l0 and ll, the nozzles 46 of the drying drums may beformed as inwardly tapered wedge-shaped passages between a series "ofhollow members formed by outer strips I40 and inner strips E li, bentand fastened together as indicated" and extending from end to end ofj'the semi-circular casing surrounding the drum members. The innermembers 141 form continu- 'oussurfacesbetween successive nozzles and lie--=ca1@se to' the surface of the fabric so that the air jets through thenozzles 46 are brought close to the fabric-surface and forming narrowclearances of /3 to not over /2" between the fabric surface a-iid the'inn-ersurface of the strips- 14L This clearance should not be more thantwice the width of the nozzle orifice. v

The tapered narrowing of the orifices develops a high velocity in theair jets forcing the 'flow through the cloth. At the same time'the closeclearances of the inner strips t ll confine the air currents to theclothsurface and impose-arelatively high resistance to endwise escape ofthea-ir.

The increase in velocity at the narrowed nozzle orifice has a Venturieffect assisting in breaking up the surface tension of the moisture inthe fabric and relatively increasing the vapor pressure to give fasterdrying with the same amount of air.

To intercept the air from the nozzle at the areas of the drumperipheries not occupied by the drying strips, semi-circular baffiesHill are-provided supported by blocks l5l at their ends and block 'I 52'at the cent'er.- Blocks I 5 l 'slide oncross rods 153 supported in'theside frames, and center block 52 is threaded on the rotatable cross rod54 so that turning of this rod I54 adjusts the semi circular baffleplate liiil axially between the nozzles it and the peripheries of thedrum members. The air jets are thus controlled to be confined tosubstantially the width of the passing strip with correspondingconcentration of the drying effect and increase inpermissible rate offeed of thematerial so as tom'aintain a higher output. g The fabricstrips'A, B are thus subjected to a drying ai current through each drumand-the condition of the air as to velocity, temperature and moisturecontent may be accurately controlled and modified according to therequirements of the fabric. The drying immediately follows the finaltreatment-and both operations are continuous. Anoutstanding feature isthe handlin of two or more strips with separate control of the feed ofeach individual feed while "at the same time employing at eachcontrol'station a dancer roll responding to the most taut'of the strips'The system is adaptable to the needs of different fabrics and gives asmooth regular texture. It is particularly advantageous with knittedfabrics requiring careful guiding, tr'eatingand drying to attain auniform and attractive appearance and finish of the'goods. Weclaim: 1.In a fabric'ieeding system, the combination with rolls feeding aplurality of tubular fabric strips in parallel relation with each rollin engagement with each strip, of subsequent feeding means comprising aseries of rotary drums with all of the said strips engaging theperiphery of each drum, and means controlling the relative rates of feedof said strips comprising an adjustable spreader in each strip, andmeans for separately adjusting said spreaders to different widths.

2.111 a fabric feeding system, the combination with rolls constituting apreliminary feed'and -'a series of drums constituting a subsequent feed,of

adjustable spreader means controlling the rate of feed of the roll meansaccording to the tension 0f the fabric therein, means between saidrollfeed {and said drum feed automatically controlling the rate offeedto the drum means according tothe tension of the fabric between saidrolls and said drums, and means automatically controlling the rate offeed of thed'rurn means accordingtoj the tension of the fabric betweensaid drums.

3. In a fabric-feeding system, the combination with rolls constitutingapreliminary feed adapt- .75 d to receive and convey plurality f stripsside by side and a series of drums constitoting a subsequent feed forsaid strips, of adjustable spreader means for each strip controllin therate of feed of the roll means, means between said r011 feed and saiddrum feed automatically controlling the rate of feed to the drum meansaccording to the tautness of the fabric strip least subject toelongation between said rolls and said drum, and means automaticallycontrolling the relative rates of the feeds of the drums according tothe tautness of the fabric strip least subject to elongation betweensaid drums.

4. Speed regulating means for the rotary feed of afiexible strip feedmeans comprising a driving pulley, a double driven pulley belt-connectedthereto, and a second driven .pulley belt-connected to said doublepulley and acting to drive said-rotary feed means-said double pulleyhaving a pair of V-pulleys automatically adjustable by said connectingbelts to vary the pitch diameter of said belts to increase the pi-tchdiameter of one I by'the decrease of the pitch diameter-of the other andvice versa, and means actuated by the flexible strip for moving saiddouble pulley to vary said pitch diameters and correspondingly controlthe speed of said rotary feed.

5. Speed regulating means as setforth-in claim tt'in which the doublepulley is mounted on a bellcrank cam-connected to a dancer roll andengaging "the flexible strip.

6. aitpparatus for handling a plurality of 'continuous strips of fabriccomprising a plurality of rotaryfabric conveying members adapted toreceive the strips and propel them side by side back and .forth around-successiv-e rotary members, a

drive belt for supplying power to said rotary members to propel thestrips through the apparatus at successive local points, and individualvariable speed drives for said rotary members from saiddrivebeltpermitting the respective rotaryumembers to differ in speed withrelation to each other and 'including control means for varyhigxt'herelative speeds of successive rotary memhers according to the-tautnessof the shortest length ofthe strips passing between each respectivecontrolled rotary member and an adjacent driven rotary member, saidcontrol means including dancer rolls each engaging both lengths of thefabric strips passing between therotary member to be controlled and anadjacent-driven rotary .member'andmoving between the rotary members .ina transverse direction intersecting the fabric lengths engaged.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 in which the individual control.means at each rotary member isseparate'ly-adjustableso that therelative peripheral speeds of successive rotary members vhave definitepredetermined differences under-normal operation conditions, thevariations of speed of said rotary members effected by the individualcontrol means being superposed on said ;predetermined differences.

8. Apparatus for continuously treating a plurality of parallel strips offabric which :comprises means for propelling the strips side by side"over a series of rotary drum members, a dancer roll riding upon thestrip runs, between each of said rotary "members and the followingmember, an actuating means including a variable speed drive for each ofsaid rotary vmembers, means automatically controlled'by the dancerrol1and acting to vary the speed of the corresponding rotary member inaccordance with the tautnessiof the least elongation of :saidstripsbetween said rotary members, and means 'I'for 'feeding .saidstrips to said rotarymem'bers comprising means for relatively varyingthe rate of feed of each of said strips with relation to the other.

9. Apparatus for continuously treating a pinrality of parallel strips oftubular fabric which comprises means for propelling the strips side bysaid in tubular formation over a plurality of corresponding spreaders,means for varying the relative rate of feed of saidstrips on saidspreaders, means for feeding said strips together from said spreadersinto a series of rotary drum membars with an intervening dancer controlacting on the strip least subject to elongation, dancer r01 6 ridingupon the stri runs between said rotary members, actuating meansincluding a variable speed drive for each of said rotary members, andmeans automatically controlled by each dancer roll and acting to varythe speed of each of the rotary members in accordance with the tautncssof the strip least subject to elongation.

10. Apparatus for continuously treatinz aaplurality of parallel stripsof tubular fabric which comprises means for feeding the strips side byside over corresponding spreader members, means for relatively adjustingsaid Spreaders tocontrol the rate of feed of each of said strips, meansfollowing said spreaders for impregnating said 1'8 ric strips andfeeding them side by side to a succession of rotary members with anintervening dancer control acting on the strip least subject'toelongation, a plurality of feeler devices riding upon the strip runsbetween said rotary members and acting upon the strip least subject toelongation, actuating means including variablespeed drives for saidrotary member and means automatically controlled by said feeler devicesfor rela't'ively varying the speeds of said rotary members according tothe corresponding vertical movements ofsaid feeler devices.

11. In a fabric-treating and drying system, combination With preliminaryfeeding means comprising successive rollers adapted to receive andconvey a plurality of fabric strips side by side, of roller means forconveying and treating said strips side by side, means comprisingsuccessive rotary drums for subsequentlyfeeding and dry.- ing .saidstrips in side-by-side relation, means for independently regulating therate offeed of said feeding and treating rollers as .a group-.relativetothe rate of-feed of said feeding and drying drum as :a succeeding group,and means for automatically controlling the rate of feed of said feedingand treating rollers relative to therateof feedof the material by thedrum in said drying means according to the tautness of the fabric stripleaat subject to elongation comprising aclancer roll between saidrollermeans and said drums.

12. In a fabric-teeding and drying system, the combination withpreliminary feeding comprising successive rollers adapted .to receiveand convey a plurality of fabric strips sidehy-side, of means forseparately controlling the-rate 10f feed of said strips comprising anadjustable spreader for each fabric strip, means comprising successiverotary drums for subsequently feeding and drying said strips inside-by-side relation, and-meansrfor automatically con-trolling.thexrate of feed of said preliminary feeding rollers relative .to therate ,of .feed .of material by .thesaid drums in said drying meansaccordingto the tautnesspf the fabric .strip least subject toelongationv comprising a dancer roll between said roller meansandsaiddrums.

13. .In afabricefeeding and drying ;.system,.the combination withpreliminary ,feeding means comprising successive rollers adapted toreceive and convey a plurality of fabric strips side by side, a drivefor said preliminary feeding means, of means comprising successiverotary drums for ently feeding and drying said strips toin side-by-siderelation, a separate drive for said drums, ineam for independentlyadjusting said drums tc the rate of feed of said preliminary feedingmean relative to the rate of o fee-ding and drying means, means forsininlt eciisly varying the rate of feed of both said :11 es together bya single control, and means automatically controlling the rate of feedof said preliminary feeding means relative to the rate of feed ofmaterial in said drying means according to the tautness of the fabricstrip least subject be elongation.

14. In a fal'sric-feeding and dryingsystem, the combination withpreliminary feeding means comprising; successive rellers adapted toreceive and convey plurality of tubular fabric strips by side, of meancomprising an adjustable spreader for each fabric strip for separatelycontrolling the rates of feed of said strips, separately driven meanscomprising successive rotary drums for subsequently feeding and dryingsaid strips in side-by-side relation, and mean for automaticallyccntrolling the rate of feed of said preliminary feeding means relativeto the rate of feed of material in said drying means comprising meanscontacting said fabric strips between said preliminary feeding mean andsaid feeding and drying means and actuated by the tautness of the fabricstrip least subject to elongation.

SAMUEL COHN. JULES G. WALTER.

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